A leading developer is gambling on Southwest Riverside County residents who crave hummus, baklava, souvlaki, tzatziki and other Mediterranean foods as much as he does.

Israeli-born Reeve Benaron, who owns half a dozen projects in Temecula, is poised to open his latest one on Wednesday, April 24 â" an eatery called My Big Fat Greek Restaurant.

Benaron, 37, founder and CEO of the Beverly Hills-based Bear Industries is the restaurantâs owner and developer. He said he invested $1 million to tear down and rebuild the former 5 & Diner at 26460 Ynez Road.

The resulting conversion is a 3,500-square-foot Greek restaurant in the Temecula Promenade with a wrap-around 1,800-square-foot patio to encourage âa little bit of high-end night life between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.,â he said. A staff of 60 is ready to report for work.

Two veteran restaurateurs in 2003 opened the first of these more upscale but affordable, full service Greek restaurants in Phoenix. Pita sandwiches cost $9 and dinners start at around $11.

Benaron hasnât wasted any time getting the word out through social media and more traditional platforms. A billboard he installed at the I-15 South/Ontario exit trumpets My Big Fat Greekâs arrival this month in Temecula. A Facebook page he launched has created a buzz with more than 1,300 âlikes.â

Benaron said he signed a 20-year lease and expects the restaurantâs yearly volume to hit number three in the 24-unit company.

As the CEO and master developer in California of the Arizona-based chain, heâs planning to open a dozen of My Big Fat Greek Restaurants in the next 18 months, including sites in Riverside, Orange and San Diego counties. Heâs already launched one in Burbank, with another soon to debut in La Verne. Benaron has earmarked a portion of each restaurantâs profits for charities in Temecula and in every community that his eateries serve.

âWeâll see how the market digests this location,â Benaron said of the Temecula venue.

âWeâre very, very excited, but weâre looking to see if the economics make sense.â

Although Benaron grew up in West Los Angeles and lives with his wife and three sons in Beverly Hills, heâs no stranger to the area.

As an undergraduate at San Diego State and then as a law student at the University of San Diego, he frequently visited friends and roommates who lived in Temecula. âI fell in love with the city,â Benaron said.

So much so that he began buying properties there in 2009, making him the second largest developer in the area after The Rancon Group. Benaron said that to date heâs injected $24 million in his projects, which include:

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